Related Stories

Topics

True North Sports and Entertainment is bringing the American Hockey League back to The Rock.

On Friday, Craig Heisinger, director of hockey operations and assistant GM for True North, will be in Newfoundland for the official announcement that the Manitoba Moose are moving to St. John’s.

St. John’s has been without the AHL since the Baby Leafs moved to Toronto to become the Marlies for the 2005-06 season.

Heisinger, who will be the GM of the team in St. John’s, is excited to remain involved with the AHL.

“The first or second call I made after last week’s (return of the NHL) announcement was to (AHL president and CEO) Dave Andrews, to make sure I didn’t lose my seat on the competition committee of the AHL,” said Heisinger. “The AHL has been very, very good, not only to me but to this franchise. It’s where both Kevin (Cheveldayoff) and I learned and we’re going to do everything we can to keep our hands in the AHL and do whatever we can to support it.”

COACHING CANDIDATES: One of the first priorities for Winnipeg’s AHL franchise will be to find a head coach, though True North won’t rush to do so.

“I have given that some thought but that’s a little bit down the road,” said Heisinger.

“We have a lot of hurdles to jump and that’s just not one that’s on the radar right this second.”

What Heisinger made clear was that they’ll be looking for the exact same things in the AHL search as they’ll seek in the NHL search for a head coach.

“Nothing would change,” said Heisinger. “Same qualities, same passion, same people skills. Absolutely.”

One of the candidates to warrant consideration will be Keith McCambridge, who served as an assistant coach under Claude Noel and Scott Arniel the past two seasons.

McCambridge, a 37-year-old who originally hails from Thompson, is still under contract to the Vancouver Canucks and it’s possible he could be considered to be the head coach of their AHL affiliate next season, which is likely to be the Chicago Wolves.

At least one other AHL team is believed to be interested in McCambridge as a head coach for next season as well.

McCambridge played the first three years of his pro career with the Saint John Flames, before he was dealt to the Las Vegas Thunder.

COACHING CANDIDATES II: On Thursday, Winnipeg GM Cheveldayoff reached out to Craig Ramsay, who coached the Thrashers last season.

“He deserves to hear my plan, more so than anyone else,” said Cheveldayoff, who spent much of Thursday morning in a meeting with captain Andrew Ladd.